How much would you spend on a liferaft?

[lumphammer]

At the London Boat Show we looked at a self righting 4 man liferaft from Viking rrp around £3000. At the other end of the scale you would be spending about 600-800.

Our cruising plans are S. Ireland this this year, the Azores in 2010, and the Caribbean at some stage in the next 5 years.

I guess the answer is - " as much as you can afford" but at what point do you start thinking about all the other things you could have bought instead?

 

[Richard10002]

I guess if I was crossing the Atlantic, I would want one of the best, so around £2k for a 6 man canister.

 

[mocruising]

At work we service about 150 liferafts a year mainly 10-40 man but its amazing how the quality of the packs inside differ from manufacturer to manufacturer. Make sure its for offshore use and yes buy the best, if you end up pulling that cord one day it might just be the one thing that saves you and your crews lives.

 

[gjgm]

dont you need to match the man number to the crew size, or its extremely unstable? IE 2 people in a 6 man is a disaster?
I thought that was one of the feedbacks from the mag testing.

 

[Richard10002]

Yes - but how will you ever know how many people will be on board when you decide to abandon? Also dont think you can get 2 man rafts, and the difference in cost between a 4 man and a 6 man seems minimal.

 

[MarkJohnson12345]

Are you able to expand on the quality bit?

Do you mean the liferaft manufacturer, or the actual packs of supplies inside?

Just hope we never have to use them, but it would be interesting to hear from a Pro (so to speak!)

/forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

 

[matelot]

Packs inside can be changed or added to. What matters is the basic design / construction.

 

[knewboater]

I don`t know if this is relevant but I have a 6 man Plastimo cannister liferaft, which failed servicing because a bladder needed replacing (before expiry date of last and first service it is 6 years old now) because it was serviced by someone who was not a Plastimo agent they would not cover it by warranty.
Anyway the point is if it is any good to anyone (who will have to pay servicing) then they are welcome to it, I don`t know if it is worth anything?

 

[TonyMills]

I bought a 4 man Zodiac here in Oz for an Indian Ocean Cruise. It will be repacked just before the cruise in August an more provisions etc.. will be in it. It cost about 1800 sterling and reguires an annual service which is the real killer here!!

Not sure about the balance, but the smallest you can buy is 4 man and if I need to use it will contain one person! I guess I'll have to keep moving from side to side pretending theirs more of me around (ala hancock!)

Regards
TonyM

 

[mocruising]

To expand on my earlier post. Liferafts by the nature of the beast sit about on deck most of their lives. Within the company we have/use six main manufacturers. Some manufacturers rafts last 20 years plus some fail sub 10 years all sit round in the same climate and conditions year after year. The reason we have six main types (Manufacturers) is that when we make an order for say 10 new rafts it always goes out to competitive tender. Its always the same ones that fail prematurely and its always the ones that last 20 + years from the more reputable manufacturers. Its true the packs can be changed, but the packs from the more reputable manufacturers last longer and are more comprehensive others just put in the bear minimum.

 

[rivonia]

Just a small comment . only buy the SMALLEST that is suitable for you. The reason is that no matter how well ballasted they are Life Rafts do capsize and the more lighter they are the easier it is to capsize.IE we have been advised by several suppliers to get a 4 man (two of us)

 

[silver-fox]

This is a question that has been taxing me of late because my 17 yr old Avon is not going to last forever - although it sailed through its last service "as good as new" quote!

It seems to me, (and I would welcome comment on this), that the use of EPIRBs means that those going bluewater cruising no longer need fear (to the same extent) the long periods at sea awaiting rescue that happened on a number of occasions 20 or so years ago. Under normal circumstances the function of a liferaft is evolving and now is to keep you safe of hours, or maybe a day or two, rather than for a more prolonged period.

This may in turn affect the design and choice of liferaft perhaps?

Is this true or does it place too much reliance upon EPIRB technology?

With an infinite budget one simply buys the best of everything. In real life deciding where to spend the funds is the tricky bit.

Simplistically which is the safer option a £2k liferaft plus a £1k self launching EPIRB or a £3k liferaft?

 

[Malish]

£3k for a 4-man Viking seems a bit steep, IIRC I purchased a 6-man self-righting Viking for £1.4k only 3 years ago from the UK agent - have they really gone up that much or are you looking at a very fancy specification?
At the time I took the view that it was worth spending the extra to get a raft from a 'proper' liferaft company with a v good build quality.

 

[ghostlymoron]

I second Richard 444. Crossing the Atlantic is a serious undertaking and I would carry the best safety equipment regardless of cost. Admittedly I don't carry the best but I'm usually only 12 miles offshore.

 

[Anonymous]

[ QUOTE ]
I second Richard 444. Crossing the Atlantic is a serious undertaking and I would carry the best safety equipment regardless of cost. Admittedly I don't carry the best but I'm usually only 12 miles offshore.

[/ QUOTE ]You can just as easily drown ten yards off the beach. Either the raft is stable, or it isn't -- if it isn't, it isn't fit for purpose. Actually, you get much worse seas close inshore than you get on the ocean from the point of view of a liferaft.....liferafts bob up and down like corks. It's the breakers that are the problem.

 

[RAI]

You could put off the final decision by renting a life-raft for your early trips.